Six journalists will produce constructive health stories

The Novo Nordisk Foundation has awarded DKK 6 million to the Constructive Institute.

Six journalists will produce constructive health stories

12 Jun 2019

The Novo Nordisk Foundation has awarded DKK 6 million to the Constructive Institute, an independent journalism centre for developing constructive journalism in health.

The grant will fund six Novo Nordisk Foundation Constructive Fellowships in 2019–2022.

The project aims to improve the reporting of research results in the health sciences and the reporting of the ongoing debate on priority-setting in the healthcare system through more knowledge-based and constructive journalism.

“Insightful journalism based on knowledge and facts is decisive for the functioning of our democracy on an informed basis. We are therefore pleased to support the Constructive Institute in improving the competencies of insightful, critical and constructive journalists in health,” says Birgitte Nauntofte, CEO, Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Two fellowships will be awarded annually. The Novo Nordisk Foundation Fellowship on Health Research and the Novo Nordisk Foundation Fellowship on the Healthcare System of the Future will give talented journalists from the media in Denmark access to academic knowledge at the highest level within the health sciences and constructive journalism.

The first two journalists will begin their fellowships at the Constructive Institute on 1 September 2019: Tine Rud Seerup, Editor, Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) and Kasper Kaasgaard, Altinget, a political website.

Tine Rud Seerup will focus on understanding and communicating the future challenges for the healthcare system – priority-setting, treatment versus prevention and organizational change. Kasper Kaasgaard will focus on new health technology. He will spend the next year improving his competencies in the ethical, human and scientific aspects of stem cell research, robotic surgery and genetic engineering that will influence the public debate in the years ahead.